Field of Invention
The present invention relates to novel compositions and/or formulations, to a process for preparing these compositions and/or formulations and to the use thereof as biologically active compositions and biologically active formulations, especially for the control of phytopathogenic fungi in plants, in the protection of materials and as plant growth regulators.
Description of Related Art
Quinoline compounds are known as active compounds having controlling effects to rice blast (Pyrcularia oryzae) and gray mold (Botrytis cinerea) of tomato, cucumber and kidney bean etc. Control can be achieved by an application method such as seed disinfection, foliar spray treatment etc. (cf. WO 2005/070917 A1, JP 2007-1944 A, WO 2007/011022 A1, JP 2007-217353 A).
Moreover, it is known that these compounds can be mixed with different fungicidal compounds e.g. from the group consisting of a strobilurin series compound, a triazole series compound etc.; resulting compositions are for example known from EP 2517562 A1.
However the ecological and economic demands made on modern active ingredients, for example fungicides, are increasing constantly, for example with respect to activity spectrum, toxicity, selectivity, application rate, formation of residues and favourable manufacture. A further problem arising with the use of synthetic fungicides is that the repeated and exclusive application of a fungicide often leads to the selection of resistant microorganisms. Normally, such are also cross-resistant to other active ingredients having the same mode of action. An effective control of the pathogens with said active compounds is then no longer possible. However, active ingredients having new mechanisms of action are difficult to find and expensive to develop.
The risk of resistance development in pathogen populations as well as environmental and human health concerns have fostered interest in identifying alternatives to synthetic fungicides for managing plant diseases. The use of biological control agents (BCAs) is one alternative. However, the effectiveness of most BCAs is not at the same level as for conventional fungicides, especially in case of severe infection pressure. Consequently, known biological control agents, their mutants and metabolites produced by them are, in particular in low application rates, not entirely satisfactory.
Thus, there is a constant need for developing new, alternative plant protection products which in some areas at least help to fulfill the above-mentioned requirements. One way of fulfilling such need can be the development of novel compositions and/or formulations comprising of fungicides and biological control agents which have advantages over the known compositions and/or formulations at least in some areas.
In view of this, it was in particular an object of the present invention to provide compositions and/or formulations which exhibit activity against phytopathogenic fungi in plants, in the protection of materials and as plant growth regulators. Moreover, it was a further particular object of the present invention, to reduce the application rates and broaden the activity spectrum of the fungicides and the biological control agents, and thereby to provide a composition and/or formulation which, preferably at a reduced total amount of active compounds applied, has improved activity against phytopathogenic fungi. In particular, it was a further object of the present invention to provide a composition and/or formulation which, when applied to a crop, results in a decreased amount of residues in the crop, and nevertheless provides efficient disease control.